With the arrival of my new 3" piston cannon, I have overpowered the area I have to shoot and need a new place, and I am wondering if anyone here knows of an area where I can shoot my gun and not get into trouble in the San Francisco Bay area. I have tried google earth, but that has not helped me very much, because I would rather not get caught on someone's property with a potentially lethal weapon. I have a feeling if I went to a driving range I might have an unfortunate meeting with the SWAT team (bay area people can be like that). Thanks.

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Umm... How did you overpower your shooting area? Sounds like you're just not being creative enough with backstops. 55 gallon drums full of sand or concrete can stop most .50 AP rounds, even more if you layer steel, aluminum, and/or concrete behind and in front of them.

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Spudfiles' resident expert on all things that sail through the air at improbable speeds, trailing an incandescent wake of ionized air, dissociated polymers and metal oxides.

I am going for distance, I could start into destruction and whatnot but I would like to be able to let 'er rip and see how far it goes. What I meant by overpowered is that I was at the risk of hitting houses and/or enraged homeowners.

So what do you plan on firing for range? You must not have anything very powerful. Range shooting is pointless with more powerful launchers, because if something's going fast enough to get any decent range, it will, in most cases, be impossible to track.

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Spudfiles' resident expert on all things that sail through the air at improbable speeds, trailing an incandescent wake of ionized air, dissociated polymers and metal oxides.

Yeah, I guess that is true, I have been limiting my cannon to 40 psi, so the range is not extreme. If no one else turns up with a location, I have been thinking about launching a golfball into a lagoon and seeing the splash for a (rough) measurement of how far it goes. The link for my gun is here:http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/my-3-pi ... 13361.htmlOn an unrelated note, how do I post a link without copying the whole thing?

Yeah, I don't live in SF, I live in the surrounding area. Pretty much just houses around me, cranky neighbors and all. I do know of a place where there are (kind of) open fields, but I do not know who owns them and whether or not they like spud guns.

that would make the news, although maybe for the wrong reasons. Funny thing, my mother gave mea military surplus howitzer for christmas, and I was wondering if I could bring it over for a few shots. You're a lucky guy. I think I will settle for shooting into water/destroying things, although I am keeping my options open.

Lately Ive been shooting spuds with parachutes on them from my back yard so the potato doesnt kill some kid, or break something, this way I dont have to risk getting caught with it down at the local park or in the boot of my car if I get pulled over. Maybe you could do this if you cant find a decent park.

They dont fly nearly as far but watching them float slowly down by parachute is surprisingly satisfying and a lot less nerv racking than wondering whether its smashed into someones car or head...Ive done It like 4 times and only found the spud once, but after one shot the parachute is stuffed anyway, my pneumatic somehow puts like 50 little holes over the whole chute. Im thinkin of making a big one out of fabric which might work better but I wouldnt wanna lose it. If you do this then remember to put a hole in the middle of the chute it keeps it stable.

That does sound cool, but don't people wonder why they have spuds with parachutes in their yard? I think I might try that sometime, it does sound very cool, although maybe not with a tater. What happens if the parachute doesn't open?

kablooie wrote:Yeah, I guess that is true, I have been limiting my cannon to 40 psi, so the range is not extreme. If no one else turns up with a location, I have been thinking about launching a golfball into a lagoon and seeing the splash for a (rough) measurement of how far it goes. The link for my gun is here:http://www.spudfiles.com/forums/my-3-pi ... 13361.htmlOn an unrelated note, how do I post a link without copying the whole thing?